Causes of Adult Acne

The causes of adult acne are numerous and the underlying triggers can vary for different people. I'll go through the basic explanation and then dive a little deeper, both literally and figuratively, to the underlying causes of adult acne.

Is it Your Fault?

First off, I'd like to dispel a bit of a myth I keep seeing on other acne related web sites. Many of them tell you that "It's Not Your Fault", or that there's nothing your doing that is causing your adult acne.

It's just not that simple.

Yes, some of the reasons people get acne are beyond our control. However, there probably are things you are doing that at the very least are making your acne worse. A bad diet, excessive skin irritation, and stress can potentially be the underlying cause of your acne.

Most explanations only go skin deep, to explain what happens in the skin to cause acne. This information is incomplete. The problem is that we haven't done enough scientific research to confirm, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that diet and stress are potential causes.

Despite what you may read on other web sites, there area actually quite a few papers that link diet to acne. Go to Google Scholar yourself and search "diet and acne" to see.

One of the diet-related factors are foods that are high on the glycemic index seem to make acne worse. This includes food like sugar and white breads. If you eat a poor diet, it could be the reason your acne has stuck around as an adult.

Some other evidence I can offer is that there are apparently many tribes (along the Amazon, for example) that do not get acne at all. Acne could be the result of our skin reacting to the downsides of modern civilization.

In the Skin

Here are the causes (more like symptoms really) that make acne occur in the skin:

• Excess Hormones and Hormone Sensitivity
Androgens like testosterone are a hormone. In puberty they trigger the sebaceous glands to enlarge, which is a natural part of the development process of the human body.

For people with acne, the the sebaceous glands are overstimulated with either too much androgens or the sebaceous glands are more sensitive than normal. This over-stimulation can continue into adulthood and is one of the major causes of adult acne.

Fluctuating hormones due to woman's menstrual cycles, pregnancy, and menopause is the major cause of adult onset acne.

• Extra sebum
When the sebaceous glands are overstimulated they produce too much sebum. Sebum is a natural oil that is used to lubricate your skin and hair so it doesn't get too dry. The sebum travels up the hair follicle, and on its way it has a chance of clogging with dead skin cells from the follicle wall, and with skin bacteria. If a clog develops it can become acne.
• Dead Skin Cells
Part of the skin rejuvenation process involves getting rid of the old and bringing in the new. The old dead skin has to be expelled and the speed of this is increased with the extra sebum flowing by.
• Bacteria
A chemical reaction can occur with a clog that causes it to grow. The growth is caused by a form of bacteria called Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes). This type of bacteria lives in our skin and is mostly harmless except for when it builds up in one area due to a clog.
• White Blood Cells The white blood cells are sent to fight off the P. acnes bacteria that has now built up around the clog. They attack the "intruders" and this produces the inflammatory response. This is the redness, swelling, and pain you experience with your pimples.